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International Travel With A Criminal Record

Here is a collection of news articles and reports we have gathered from around the world dealing with international traveling restrictions and visa waivers for individuals with a criminal record, as well as the world-wide creation of criminal records, the global proliferation and expansion of criminal databases, and issues relating to the creation, use and expungement of criminal records in foreign countries.

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Fair Trials International works for the better protection of fair trial rights and defends the rights of people facing criminal charges in a country other than their own.

Cuba:

Cuba Has Laws to Convict Desperate Women
According to the Cuban criminal code, for the criminal records of seven-year convictions to be erased, a person has to wait ten years – no matter the circumstances. There’s no way to appeal that ruling. It’s a ten year wait, period.

Indonesia:

Seeking alternatives to custodial sentences for minor crimes by children is not just good practice; it follows international standards. Few countries today believe that children who fall foul of the law should be put behind bars without any consideration of an alternative course of action.

Israel:

An Israeli soldier with a criminal record is able to file a request for an official recommendation to the president that his criminal record be expunged. Such requests are usually granted if a soldier has not been convicted in a military court, has not had more than six disciplinary infractions and has not gone AWOL for a period of two weeks or more.

In most cases, the soldier in question comes before a council and must convince them to issue a recommendation to the president on his or her behalf.

Jamaica:

Ganja records to be removed next year<
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck says starting early next year his ministry will be seeking to expunge the criminal records of all persons, who pleaded guilty and were convicted for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Kenya:

Rogue refugees to be repatriated to Somalia
Internal Security Permanent Secretary Francis Kimemia said those found to have links with the militant group or having a criminal record will be prosecuted and repatriated back to Somalia.

Maldives:

A new regulation at the Family Court requires underage couples applying for marriage to submit criminal records and police reports, in a bid to ensure that young girls are fully informed of their partner’s social standing.

New Zealand:

Nigeria:

Pakistan:

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said a summary has been forwarded to the prime minister to grant police access to mobile phone data, adding that equipment would be provided to the police force to find the locations of criminal elements. Police across the country would be provided equipment to record the mobile phones of criminals, and a central crime database centre would be set up in Islamabad.

Russia:

From now on anyone in Russia who commits a serious crime will not only have their fingerprints taken but will also have their DNA profiles held on a police database …

Genome records will be collected in prisons and detention facilities and transferred to the Interior Ministry’s laboratories, where the data will be archived. Genome records will be held only on those individuals who commit grave and violent crimes.

Mr Asplen said until recently, the US had focused on compiling a database only of convicted offenders. He said 26 states now included DNA samples of all people who had been arrested but had not been convicted.

South Korea:

Thailand:

Thailand’s government has put forward proposals for an amnesty for convicts that seem designed to allow self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return home without serving a sentence for abuse of power.

Turkey:

If the reforms come into force, criminal records, which are now maintained until an individual’s death or 80 years after the crime, will be expunged after 30 years. Ergin said the criminal records of those who were convicted of petty crimes will be expunged after five years, while criminal records of those who were convicted of crimes against the state or disgraceful crimes will be cleared after 15 years.

United Arab Emirates:

UAE: Expunge Activists’ Convictions
The decision to commute the sentences of five activists recognizes that they should not have been prosecuted in the first place, but authorities should also expunge the convictions from their records, an international coalition of seven human rights organizations said today. On November 28, 2011, the United Arab Emirates president commuted the sentences by the Federal Supreme Court for “publicly insulting” UAE rulers.